Working as Michigan's starting strong safety, Jeremy Clark's long wait pays off

Michigan redshirt sophomore Jeremy Clark has appeared as the Wolverines' starting strong safety through the first three games of the 2014 season.

(Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR -- In a world of instant gratification, Jeremy Clark was OK taking the long route. The Michigan redshirt sophomore safety will start in his fourth straight football game this weekend. And, finally, it's all slowing down enough for him to take it all in. As a mostly unheralded recruit, one who chose Michigan over scholarship offers from mostly MAC schools, Clark sat out as a freshman in 2012. Then as a sophomore in 2013, the Madisonville, Kentucky native swam in the deep end of the U-M depth chart. He appeared in one game as a reserve safety and appeared in six other contests as a special teams player. It was a long time spent on the outside looking in. Then, though, came the 2014 season opener. Clark didn't just play. No, Clark started at strong safety, sliding into the role after Delano Hill went down with a preseason injury. He's been there ever since. "It's still crazy to me that I'm out there on the field," Clark said Tuesday, following a practice leading up to Saturday's meeting between Michigan (2-1) and Utah (2-0) at Michigan Stadium (3:30, TV: ABC). "I don't take it for granted at all." Through three games, playing ahead of fellow safety Dymonte Thomas in the secondary, Clark has recorded three solo tackles, assisted on four more and deflected one pass. Clark says that first game, a season-opening 52-14 win over Appalachian State, was a bit of a blur. Any satisfaction over finally being on the field was quickly washed away by rushed confusion.

Jeremy Clark breaks up a pass intended for Appalachian State wide receivers Simms McElfresh during the Wolverines' season opener on Saturday, August 30, 2014.

"It had been, like, three years since I played, so I had to get used to the speed of the game," he said. "I hadn't played DI football until then. Once I got adjusted to the speed, I just felt like I was going to hang on." Clark's road to playing time isn't uncommon. College football is built mostly on player development. The modern game, though, exists in a vacuum of players wanting immediately playing time. Many transfer until they find it. That, though, according to Clark, never crossed his mind. "I love it here, so leaving wasn't an option for me," he said. That even-handed approach stemmed from keeping perspective. "Of course everyone wants to play, but (last year) I was still learning the process and there were guys in front of me who knew the calls and everything, so you can't get mad if you don't know what you're supposed to be doing out there," Clark said. "This year, I feel like I'm learning it well." Much of that is thanks to Jarrod Wilson, a junior starter at free safety. The two have been close since Clark arrived in Ann Arbor. Wilson was an early enrollee at U-M and enjoyed a long head start on learning the defensive system. Despite being only four months older than Clark, he's taken his fellow safety under his wing. "Whenever I was feeling down, I'd just go talk to (Wilson) and he'd tell me to keep pushing through," Clark said. So Clark focused on practice and patience, avoiding natural negativity. "I tried not to think like that -- if I think like that, it's going to pound on me," he said. "I just had a positive attitude the entire time." That's paid off. With this season and two more years of eligibility remaining, Clark is carving out a role with the Wolverines. "You look at Jeremy's progress from freshman year and always been blessed pretty well with the physical attributes," Hoke said. "His football intelligence continues to grow, and that's what you need at that position back there. ... The competition that we play, week in and week out, adjusting defenses, going from one coverage to another coverage on a motion -- all those things are things I think he's really worked hard on."

Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball and football. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com